#DarkoftheMoon – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – July Recap – Six Audiobooks of Twelve Reviewed

Rosepoint Reviews - July Recap

Too hot for much in the way of outdoor activities, but I’ve been working on saving rain water as we are charged for every drop out of the faucet and then the same for sewer services, so I hate watering the garden with water that will also be charged for sewer.

One barrel in the front is enough to water a few potted plants decorating the front yard. Then I got a temporary rain barrel for the back and the first time it filled to capacity in one of our upper Midwest T-storms it went over. One hundred gallons is a LOT of water and quickly overwhelmed the overflow at the top. So I reconfigured the base and siphoned the water out in anticipation of another gully washer. It’s going a long way to watering the veggie and flower bed as well as the potted plants on the deck and the deck plants are looking very happy. We used to have dry periods, not this year though. This year, we’ve not just had rain, we’ve had some serious major storms, and looking ahead, August is promising some douzies. We are still cleaning up a couple trees that came down in the fairy garden.

Update on Punkin the Pom: that little stinker is still a challenge now at almost ten months with us. Looks like progress with housetraining, then we regress. She continues to bond with the CE but must still equate me with the dragon that forced her to have another litter. Now she’ll occasionally initiate a walk, running outside then plopping butt down to have the leash attached. (That doesn’t mean a successful potty walk, however.) I have found a new treat she’ll accept (that’s two!) and she is beginning to spend some “social” time near the CE (play time, however, was apparently something she never had nor a clue how to jump up on a couch).

I managed to bake a successful loaf of bread from my third sourdough starter—long story there that includes an attack by a demon squirrel on the starter left on the deck to slow rising—and the separation of 20 grams I’d saved in the fridge for use later. Turned out, later was the next day, but it turned out wonderful, great texture, light and airy, flavorful. Thrilled but now wonder if I could have siphoned off ten grams to save and ten to use.

So yes, July was a blur with the CE’s attention divided and my spending more time in the kitchen. I’m still thinking of a short break, so much going on, it’s been a struggle and I’m relying on more audiobooks to provide content as evidenced by July stats.

I’m still getting books from NetGalley as well as author requests, but July saw more audiobooks than before from my library (six in July!) or half the books reviewed for a total of twelve. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

July Recap

Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (audiobook)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (audiobook)
Knee High by the Fourth of July by Jess Lourey
Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda (audiobook)
City Gone Askew by Matt Cost (CE review)
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear (audiobook)
Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger
12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington
Middletide by Sarah Crouch (audiobook)
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford (audiobook)
The Road to Roatan by Michael Reisig

Favorite Book of the Month

I actually had two five-star books in July—loved them both—and if I had to choose just one, fail. 12 Coffins was a YA, unusual for me, but more than quirky enough to really keep me glued to the pages. Lilac Ink is by one of my favorite authors and this novel begins a new series—totally captivated by the characters—all so real they came alive on the pages. Thoroughly invested and looking forward to Book 2.

Favorites for July – 12 Coffins by Lewis Pennington

Lilac Ink by Jean Grainger

My Reading Challenges page…Reading Challenges page—I refuse to give up on this page—I will bring it up to date, but at this point, it will probably be Fall. The Goodreads Challenge is still six books behind schedule at 80 of 150. I must be having too much fun somewhere!

Welcome as always to my new subscribers and thank you so much to those of you who continue to monitor, read, and comment on my posts. I appreciate all of you.

Happy Thursday!

Dark of the Moon by John Sandford #AudiobookReview #crimethrillers

A Virgil Flowers Novel, Book 1

Book Blurb:

Virgil Flowers kicked around for a while before joining the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. First it was the army and the military police, then the police in St. Paul, and finally Lucas Davenport brought him into the BCA, promising him, “We’ll only give you the hard stuff.”

He’s been doing the hard stuff for three years now, but never anything like this.

In the small town of Bluestem, a house way up on a ridge explodes into flames, its owner, a man named Judd, trapped inside. There are a lot of reasons to hate him, Flowers discovers. In fact, he concludes, you’d probably have to dig around to find a person who doesn’t despise Judd.

And that isn’t even why Flowers came to Bluestem. Three weeks before, there’d been another murder, two, in fact, a doctor and his wife, the doctor found propped up in his backyard, both eyes shot out. Flowers knows two things: this wasn’t a coincidence, and it had to be personal.

But just how personal is something even he doesn’t realize, and may not find out until too late. Because the next victim may be himself.

My Review:

My first book by the author, so I knew nothing about the Sandford Prey series. Virgil Flowers is apparently a spin-off. I like getting in on the first book of a series (not my usual style), but in this case where the protagonist is a spin-off from another series, it seems assumed you already have a modicum of knowledge about the character.

I didn’t; nor did I particularly like him.

Flowers joined the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA—a name I found phony to funny). This, after he pulled a stint in the military police, then the police in St Paul. He has a solid background without a ton of baggage unless you count three failed marriages. Just a good ole boy doing his thing, which is apparently women.

Perhaps I’m the wrong gender target for this character and series. While there were a few humorous moments, dialogue, I just couldn’t get invested in this character and unfortunately, for me, the storyline meandered and lost my attention.

In a little town in Minnesota, one murder is a headline, which is why he was sent there to investigate, but then there occurs a series of murders—all related according to Flowers. No problem, Virgil will quietly and effectively get to the crux of the matter all while playing with the sister of the local sheriff.

It falls back on the old cozy trope of the guy that’s offed being the most intensely disliked person in town, thereby offering everyone in the little town a position as number one suspect. Then we have to shuffle through all of them to get the perp. Groan.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Two Point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Thrillers, Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN: B000WPL3C2
Listening Length: 10 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Eric Conger
Publication Date: August 23, 2007
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Dark of the Moon [Amazon]

The Author: John Sandford is the pseudonym for the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist John Camp. He is the author of the Prey novels, the Kidd novels, the Virgil Flowers novels, and six other books, including three YA novels co-authored with his wife Michele Cook. [Amazon]

John Sandford was born John Roswell Camp on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He attended the public schools in Cedar Rapids, graduating from Washington High School in 1962. He then spent four years at the University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies in 1966. In 1966, he married Susan Lee Jones of Cedar Rapids, a fellow student at the University of Iowa. He was in the U.S. Army from 1966-68, worked as a reporter for the Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian from 1968-1970, and went back to the University of Iowa from 1970-1971, where he received a master’s degree in journalism. He was a reporter for The Miami Herald from 1971-78, and then a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer-Press from 1978-1990; in 1980, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and he won the Pulitzer in 1986 for a series of stories about a midwestern farm crisis. From 1990 to the present he has written thriller novels. He’s also the author of two non-fiction books, one on plastic surgery and one on art. He is the principal financial backer of a major archeological project in the Jordan Valley of Israel, with a website at www.rehov.org In addition to archaeology, he is deeply interested in art (painting) and photography. He both hunts and fishes. He has two children, Roswell and Emily, and one grandson, Benjamin. His wife, Susan, died of metastasized breast cancer in May, 2007, and is greatly missed. [Goodreads]

Have a Great Sunday